Baby Pink
by The Shrimp Girls
Summary: Something you never thought you'd see: a YnM mpreg fic! WaTat ( TsuHi ) Watari does another one of his experiments using himself as the quinea pig. And the results? Read and see for yourself! If you want to see the original chapters, go to our profile.
1. Default Chapter

**Baby Pink**

Genre: mpreg/humor

Series: Yami no Matsuei

Pairings: Tatsumi/Watari ( + Tsuzuki/Hisoka )

Rating: PG-13

Description: The genre says it all. We couldn't resist the thought of Watari as a happy mother. ^^

If you don't like men having babies, don't read. It's as easy as that. *smairu*

That's the money, douzo!

____________________________________________________________________________

**Chapter 01 - The Seduction**

Somehow Watari Yutaka had gotten the impression that potions were never worth a damn if they first hadn't exploded at least once. Now his newest creation was only lacking the final phase. All it needed now was the last big bang.

Chuckling, he snatched 003 safely into his pocket and hurried to a corner. He put his fingers into his ears, shut his eyes tightly, and waited.

BOOM.

"Yatta!" exclaimed the delightfully genki scientist as he bounced back up and tap-danced his way back to the desk. A slightly disoriented 003 popped its head out of the man's lab coat pocket and hooted faintly, then carefully jumped onto the desk and swayed there back and forth, its eyes now the size of plates. Watari grabbed the still foamy test bottle with his isolative gloves and held it over his head. The young scientist smiled and lowered the sizzling bottle in front of his face and examined its pink, translucent contents. The light seeping through it flashed in his long, blond hair and gleamed on the frames of his glasses. A small laughter escaped from his lips.

"BWAHHAHAHAHAAA!!" A manic laughter echoed all around JuOhCho. It made Hisoka's, Tatsumi's and especially Tsuzuki's hair stand on end. The dark-haired shinigami veteran leaped to seek comfort from a corner and weaped while his young partner only shook his head and their superior colleague kept peering out of the window. As the honey-haired shinigami began to steer the frightened and whining Tsuzuki out of the office with a few "Go home!" yells and some underlining kicks the secretary of the Underworld speculated with the figures the laughter - or rather the cause of it - might possibly inflict on them, and sighed heavily.

"It's already the fifth time this week..."

The dusk cast deep shadows in the laboratory where Watari started dancing around while 003 tilted its head from side to side, gazing at the sight.

"FINALLY! At last I have created it! At last I've..." There was a moment of eerie silence. Watari stood completely still for a moment and then slowly turned around to look at the door of his lab. When 003 saw the look on the man's face it shrieked and fell wings flapping on the floor. Watari chuckled and another maniac laughter was about to make its way to his lips when he swallowed and sighed really deep.

"And I'm going to try it out tonight." Still slightly chuckling the scientist walked out of the room and closed the door with care.

003 watched after the scientist for a while, then hooted softly and flew away from the ajar window.

Watari headed immediately to the men's room and locked himself into one of the cubicles. Everything was completely silent and dark; most of the shinigamis had already gone home. Yet Watari knew with certainty that there was still one person besides him in the building: Tatsumi. The man never skipped an opportunity to work overtime and Watari knew this. And it fit his plans splendidly.

Watari turned his back against the cubicle door and took out again the steaming, hot bottle containing the pink fluid. 'It's now or never' he thought and gulped quite a portion down his throat.

Immediately after swallowing the man coughed violently and fell down on his knees on the cold floor with the half-full flask still in his hands. He gagged and panted forcefully there for a while, his other hand holding his throat. The potion had been burning hot and he felt as if it was still somehow bubbling in his stomach. After a few seconds Watari started to feel somewhat... strange. He couldn't explain the sensation and hoped he hadn't poisoned himself. Still, the familiar feelings of paralyzation and choking - and the quite unaesthetic foam coming from his mouth - that experience had taught him were missing this time, and actually the blond scientist felt... rather good. Light, even.

Eventually Watari managed to calm his breath and got up, found a thick cork and sealed the bottle with it. Still feeling somewhat steady he left from the toilet and went to lock the bottle away in the cupboard reserved for his chemicals where it would be safe and out of anyone else's reach. But after he had again locked the door of his lab Watari didn't lead himself down the wide staircases of JuOhCho and home like he did usually.

He headed for Tatsumi's office.

As Watari walked along the deserted corridors of JuOhCho the peculiar feeling inside him just seemed to grow but he soon discarded the possibility of a poisoning. The potion did seem to quicken the longhaired shinigami's breath and pulse but not at all in an alarming way. The feeling reminded Watari more of the way he felt in the presence of Tatsumi, of that warm anxiety that always took over him when the stone-cold but unimaginably beautiful secretary was near him...

_Tatsumi..._ The thought of the brown-haired man filled Watari's head with sudden agitation and his whole being began to glow. He was starting to believe that his potion was nothing more than an ordinary afrodisiac. _Though it's an unusually strong one,_ the blond shinigami concluded as he was starting to have trouble keeping his thoughts together and, most all, _in check_ when it came to the ice-hearted secretary of JuOhCho. The man had always answered Watari's discreet suggestions with a friendly yet matter-of-fact rejection before. Still, Watari did have his own suspicions about Tatsumi's true emotions and, as an eternal optimist, believed with absolute certainty in his own motto: As long as there's life after death, there is hope.

_Tatsumi..._

A sligthly lopsided smile appeared on Watari's face as he proceeded towards his goal with determination. He radiated self-confidence.

_There's no use for you to even TRY to resist me tonight._

-------------

Tatsumi sat behind his desk that was lit only by a small lamp, completely unaware of the approaching danger. Lately the shinigamis had had an unusually small amount of work and so there weren't enough documents to form the small paper tower that usually loomed over the desk. Unfortunately though, most of the documents at hand were bills of Tatsumi's colleagues' mishaps.

As he laid down Tsuzuki's fifth restaurant bill with enough length to pave a highway Tatsumi sighed with desperation in his voice and buried his head in his hands. "Someday I'm going to put him on a bread and water diet... Kurosaki can keep an eye on him..." he mumbled against his palms when he heard the door of his office opening softly.

Tatsumi lifted his gaze and saw a figure standing by the door. The light casting from behind the figure made it difficult to make out any accurate features but the glowing, golden long hair gave a pretty good hint. "Watari? I thought that everyone had gone home already. Do you want something?"

He heard the smile in the scientist's voice when the man answered. "NOO~THING special, Tatsumi." Treading softly the blond shinigami stepped into the room and closed door, leaning his back against it. For some reason the sound caused by it seemed slightly threatening to Tatsumi.

He ignored the observation, though, and turned to tend to the bills again. "In that case, would you mind letting me get back to work? Good, thank you", the secretary continued before Watari could get a word in and fixed his gaze on the sixth bill caused by Tsuzuki. A small vein began to tick on his temple.

Watari stood still in the shadows for a while as Tatsumi became engrossed by his chores again and seemed to forget the presence of the other shinigami in the room totally. Then the man walked slowly across the room to the desk, sat on it with grace and began to stare at Tatsumi. The secretary glanced at him without much interest over his glasses, his brow slightly frowning. "What?" he asked, turning his gaze back to document in front of him ( an announcement that the soda machine was yet again out of order and a wish that something would be done about the matter as soon as possible ).

The blond man tipped his head and toyed with his long hair until answering. The question following the silence banished all possible solutions of problem solving from the brown-haired man's mind.

"Tatsumi... Do you think I'm beautiful?"

Tatsumi froze completely. Then he lifted his gaze to Watari who was grinning on the desk. "WHAT?"

"Just answer me, Tatsumi. Do you think I'm beautiful?" said Watari smiling and leaned closer to Tatsumi who in turn retreated against his chair, eyes wide from shock.

"Wh-what kind of a question is that?! Stop this non-sense this instant, Watari!" the secretary yelled with an unusually high-pitched voice. He felt his cheeks burning red when being forced to look straight at the blond-haired man's face and answer the scientist's dark, brown-eyed gaze. Sure, Watari had made his feelings towards Tatsumi known before as well but never in such an aggressive way so Tatsumi had been able to leave the situation at that on those occasions. This new direct approach really mixed his deck, and his heart beat hard as Watari leaned closer still over the desk.

"Oh, but I'm seriously not joking, my dear Tatsumi", smiled Watari speaking in a low, silent voice that made Tatsumi swallow hard. "You see", the scientist continued and shook his hair so that the locks fell down from the shoulders like small waterfalls, their radiance highlighting his face, "I think you are so inexplicably beautiful yourself that I'm afraid that I won't be good enough for you. This is a very important question for me."

Tatsumi could only stare at the other man, completely turned to stone. Then he tried to back away through his chair to escape while his voice rose another octave. "Wa-WATARI!! What the hell are you saying?! Do you have any idea how, how, _INAPPROPRIATELY_ you are behaving today?!"

"Tatsumi." Watari interrupted him quietly, suddenly serious, a gaze in his eyes that began to melt the secretary's icy shell much to Tatsumi's horror. The blond-haired man slowly took off his glasses and lifted his gazed back to the other man's face. With his golden hair, illuminated only by the small desktop lamp and a vulnerable look in his eyes Watari looked overwhelmingly beautiful.

"You... you really don't take me seriously. I never would have thought of you as a person who... who just toys with other people's emotions!" Watari let out in a broken voice and turned his face away, covering his mouth with his left hand. The shoulders of the long-haired shinigami trembled slightly and all kinds of thoughts began to flock inside Tatsumi's head.

_Oh no oh no oh no what am I going to do?! He's really serious today, how the hell am I going to get through this- ... dear kami-sama, he's not CRYING, is he? No no no no no no NO, this isn't how it was supposed to go!!_

"Aaahh... ano, Watari, I..." Tatsumi tried to stutter some kind of an apology but he seemed to have lost momentarily all the diplomatic skills he had ever owned as he watched his co-worker sobbing in front of him. "It's not that I don't like you as a person and, uh, as a friend and all that, but this, um, I..." Tatsumi's voice faded into nothingness when Watari began to sob twice as hard at the mention of the word 'friend'. Frantically he leaned a bit closer and put his hand on the other shinigami's shoulder, trying to think of some kind of consolation. Finally he decided on the last resort.

"It'll be alrig-_UWAAAAAAAAAGH!!!"_ was all he managed to spit out before finding himself cornered against the chair with Watari's arms around him and the man himself sitting in his lap. "WATARI!!" Tatsumi screamed, his face now completely red. Against his will he had to admit that the situation wasn't all that uncomfortable after all, and that was what really shocked him.__

The other man didn't care about the protests and only giggled contented against Tatsumi's neck. The soft breath on his skin made the secretary shiver slightly. "Gotcha."

"Watari Yutaka! Let go off me this instant or I'll, I'll..." Tatsumi tried to regain his usual authority but the attempt remained half-hearted. The truth was that Tatsumi had indeed had feelings for Watari for quite some time now but in no way would have admitted it to the man, let alone to himself. But now that he had the blond shinigami there in his arms, so close, and he could feel his warmth and body against himself and sense the breath and soft scent of the scientist's hair around him Tatsumi was almost shocked by how natural, how _right_ it all felt...

"Or you'll what?" Watari mumbled into Tatsumi's ear before leaning back to look at his face from a distance of ten inches. The light casted by the lamp made his hair shine golden again as he smiled and all Tatsumi could do was stare. All of the promised good threats like cutting the lab's funding and a painful death via an axe murder were buried forever inside the secretary's throat and all that came out was: "...nnnghhh?" as Watari leaned in closer again and reserved Tatsumi's lips to his own uses.

At that moment the older shinigami couldn't have lifted a finger even if he had wanted to. From the first almost casually given caress his whole being had been concentrated to the relatively small part of his body that in whole was his mouth. Watari advanced agonizingly slowly and carefully as he nibbled Tatsumi's soft lips with his own and kissed the corners of his mouth in a teasing manner for a small heavenly eternity. In the midst of it all the scientist gently bit the upper lip of the other man who let out a small suppressed moan.

Watari laughed mischieviously when he heard the sound and bent down to whisper in Tatsumi's ear while starting to undo the buttons of the man's shirt: "Oh I never would have believed how cute you could sound like. My little uke..." He giggled on top of it all.

This shattered the spell that had frozen the brown-haired man. Blood started gushing in Tatsumi's ears as irritation released his adrenaline. UKE? He, Tatsumi Seiichirou, JuOhCho's SECRETARY, would not take this kind of treatment any longer! His hands that had rested idly till now suddenly wrapped themselves around the other man.

_"Uke?"_ His voice was almost a growl.

"Eh?" Watari yelped eyes widening from surprise when he was suddenly pulled closer against the other man's chest.

"Watari", Tatsumi continued with a dangerously low voice, "I believe you have been mistaken with something. Because", he tilted his head to kiss the blond shinigami's neck and was rewarded with a small whine of happiness, "if this is about who's _underneath_ tonight, then I can guarantee that it isn't going to be _me."_

After that he pulled Watari into a kiss deeper than the previous ones. It was threatening to turn the scientist into a small puddle on the floor. The blond shinigami purred continuously from happiness which made Tatsumi smile as he slid his hands inside Watari's coat and underneath his shirt. Watari seemed to intoxicate him with his mere existence, scent and warmth, and Tatsumi couldn't have gotten enough of him when the man shivered from his touch and whimpered into his mouth: "Tatsumi... Tatsumi..."

He would have wanted it to last forever.

Tatsumi sunk his other hand into Watari's hair while the scientist tried to pull the suit and the shirt underneath it off him. "Yutaka..." he whispered quietly and then pressed his lips more forcefully against Watari's.

They dropped to the floor carefully, never letting go of each other.


	2. A Shocking Revelation

**Chapter 02 - A Shocking Revelation**

That night was the most wonderful thing Watari had ever experienced.

Even the morning had went peacefully. Watari had expected to hear Tatsumi scream like a proper coloratura soprano after they had woken up embracing each other, and the man to start looking for his pants quickly before Tsuzuki and Bon came to work, but no. After waking up they had just stared into each other's eyes and caressed each other's faces for a while before getting up.

And that was that. Tsuzuki and Bon didn't have a clue about what had happened and even if they did they didn't at least show it, which suited him and especially Tatsumi, the blond scientist reckoned. It would be for the best if nobody knew about it. Watari did know that at least Tsuzuki and Bon already knew about his feelings towards Tatsumi, but the night they had spent together should remain as their own secret.

But after a while Watari again began to suspect the possibility of poisoning more and more. He started to get these constant, almost paralyzing moments of fatigue which didn't go away no matter how much he slept each night. They were soon followed by an everyday morning sickness that sometimes even made him throw up. Things went on like this for a couple of weeks. Eventually Watari started to fear for his health and he was becoming even more convinced that the pink potion had something to do with it.

One day at work he suddenly became so dizzy that he had to sit down to catch his rapid breath.

_What on earth's the matter with me? My arms and legs ache from fatigue, I feel terrible every morning, I'm always hungry... Am I ill? But shinigamis can't get any serious illnesses! Then what is this?_

Watari felt like crying as he pondered the questions that had occupied his mind for quite some time already. He didn't have the nerve to go to a doctor or tell about his situation to the others. They had already noticed Watari's bad state and proposed him to take some time off from work to rest but Watari knew with almost certainty that it would be futile. So he continued to work despite everybody's protests. Watari even noticed Tatsumi giving him concerned looks, but the scientist still convinced everyone that he would be fine.

But eventually he started to doubt it. His unnatural, continuos state of nausea couldn't be a coincidence. There had to be something behind it.

Watari wandered to the library to get a moment of peace to think. He made his way amongst the tall bookshelves, absent-mindedly looking at all of the thousands of books that were written about every imaginable subject, and followed his feet almost unconsciously to the section of medicine and science.

Suddenly his eyes caught the name of an average-sized brown book. Watari let out a small gasp, grabbed the book in his hands and read it for a moment. The look on his face turned more and more shocked and terrified as he read on.

Finally he closed the book silently and placed it carefully back in the shelf. After that he left the library immediately and headed for the pharmacy, trying to convince himself that his fears were absolutely ridiculous.

----------

The next morning, after he had finished his morning routines - a visit to the toilet, breakfast and the combing of his hair - Watari took a small package he had bought from the pharmacist with him to work. There was a frightened look on his face and his arms were slightly shaking. After a few hours he would know for sure.

When he arrived at work a genki Tsuzuki greeted him with a piece of cake in his hands. "Good morning, Watari-saaaaan! Want some cake?"

"Not now, thanks, maybe later", answered Watari smiling and headed for his lab. _If there's anything left of it by then..._ he thought with smile and listened how Tsuzuki was now offering the cake to Hisoka. Then he remembered again what lay ahead of him and tightened his lips into a thin line...

After about two hours Watari was finally sure about what was wrong with him.

He couldn't believe it. He didn't WANT to. The whole idea was insane and like a bad joke, a nightmare - and yet, if his own eyes weren't lying to him the truth at the moment was exactly what it looked like.

Watari was numb from shock for a while, but eventually an inevitable realization managed to invade his thoughts - that this wasn't only his problem, but...

It took a long while to gather the courage to walk out the lab and to the door of the office. Watari was scared to death to face Tatsumi, and his heart was beating almost painfully against his chest. How could he explain everything?

_Well, it has to be done anyway,_ he thought, swallowed hard and knocked on the secretary's door.

There was a silent "Come in", and Watari slowly opened the door and peeked into the room. Tatsumi was sitting behing his desk his head turned to the documents that had ended up on his table for all various reasons. He didn't look angry. _Good,_ thought Watari.

Tatsumi wrote his name in one of the papers and then lifted his gaze, noticing the blond shinigami. "Morning. What is it, Watari?" he asked getting up.

"E-eeeeeeh..." Watari tried to think of something comprehensible for an answer but could only stutter. "There's something..."

"Well then tell me. Are you still feeling ill?" the secretary continued walking past his desk in front of Watari and put his hand on the man's shoulder. "What is it?" he asked, breathing calmly against Watari's cheek.

Watari shivered and stroked Tatsumi's bangs. "I need to tell you something. And I think it's best if Tsuzuki and Bon heard it, too", he finally said quietly.

"Alright", answered Tatsumi slightly puzzled, took a hold of Watari's hand and led them to the conference room. He left the blond man alone for a while and went to fetch Tsuzuki and Hisoka so that finally all four of them were present.

"What is it, Watari-san?" Tsuzuki asked as fluffy dog ears popped out from his head. Watari stood there in front of his tree colleagues and friends, his gaze glued to the ground, and then finally said:

"You all know that I have been feeling sick lately..."

"Have you gotten better already?" Tsuzuki asked immediately, concern shining from his eyes and his whole being. Hisoka and Tatsumi just stayed quiet and stared at Watari confused, waiting for him to continue.

"Well, the thing is that..." _Shit, this isn't going to be easy._ "... that I finally found out today what's been wrong with me. And still is."

"What is it?" all three of them asked in unison. Watari hesitated for a while, and then said unbelievably calm:

"Long story short: I'm pregnant."

The effect was stunning.

The room became silent as a grave. The looks on Tsuzuki's, Tatsumi's and Hisoka's faces were beyond shocked, like they never would have suspected in any circumstances to hear news like this ( as they probably hadn't ).

Tsuzuki finally managed to gasp: "What?"

Right after that Hisoka asked: "How do you know?"

Watari took a small, translucent tube filled with some liquid from his lab coat pocket.

"I-is that..." Tatsumi stuttered with a weak voice as he stared at the small object that the scientist was holding.

"A pregnancy test, yes. I bought it yesterday from the pharmacist and did the test this morning. The results were positive." Watari pocketed the tube again. "So, I am expecting a child."

"Whose?" Hisoka asked.

Another silence. Nobody dared to say anything for a short while. Finally Watari answered:

"I guess I have to confess it someday, there's no helping to it..." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, gathering the courage again. "I... slept with Tatsumi... about six weeks ago. Right after I thought I'd finally invented the thing I've always tried to develop." Watari lowered his head even more so that his eyes were covered by shadows.

Again nobody could think of anything to say. Tsuzuki and Hisoka stared at both Tatsumi and Watari, Tatsumi himself keeping his dumbfounded gaze on Watari the whole time.

Suddenly they heard a quiet sob and noticed a single teardrop gleaming on Watari's shadow-covered face.

"I don't blame you for any of this, Tatsumi", Watari said abruptly with a quivering voice. "This is all completely my fault, and it was unfair to drag you into this, too. Not that I knew..."

The man's voice diminished to plain whining as he tried to finish what he had to say. His whole body shook as new tears ran down on his face. "I-I'm terribly sorry for all I've caused, most of all to you."

Watari lifted his head a bit and looked into Tatsumi's eyes. The eyes of the blond-haired shinigami were filled with grief.

"I-I guess it's best that I go... outside for a while... to think. I'm sorry again. I..." Watari glanced at Tatsumi's beautiful blue eyes one last time. His voice didn't shook a bit when he continued in a quiet voice.

"I love you, Tatsumi."

After having said that the scientist wiped his eyes and face with his hands, turned around slowly and walked out of the room. Despite everything none of the three shinigami's still in the room could follow him. The shocking situation had frozen them to where they stood.

At that moment, Tatsumi honestly didn't know what to think.


	3. Daijoubu yo

**Chapter 03 - Daijoubu yo**

Watari walked slowly onwards with his eyes fixed on the ground. All kinds of thoughts ran around in his mind, the most consuming ones being thoughts of shock and uncertainty for the future, and the fear that all the feelings the secretary of Enmacho had for him had disappeared. Watari did love Tatsumi immensely and was afraid he wouldn't bear it if the man left him now. He wouldn't cope alone. "And now a child..." he quietly whispered to himself, and the tears began to fall down his face again.

He suddenly realized that he had walked much further than he had intentioned. He was standing by a large, green field that was surrounded by a low, brown wooden fence. Watari had never been there before and decided to take a look at the place. With ease he climbed over the fence and headed for the small bundle of trees in the middle of the field.

It was only midday and the sun was shining bright and warm above the trees. After circling around for a while Watari grew a bit tired and he sat down by one of them. The trees gave some shelter from the sun and a gentle spring breeze kept brushing Watari's golden hair softly as he closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh.

"What am I supposed to do now..." he whispered to himself half-opening his eyes and resting against the tree trunk. Then suddenly he heard a quiet noise. Something was definitely coming towards him.

Watari turned to face the field and noticed a small, snow-white and a rather chubby pony calmly making its way to him. The blond-haired man laughed softly and followed the pony's trotting amused. Judging from the animal's extremely round appearance he gathered it was with child.

Suddenly Watari heard a noise above him and saw a small, red-and-blue bird flying among the trees and clearly keeping an eye on him. He did have noticed a bird's nest in one of the trees, and in that nest there was small gathering of round, really teeny tiny eggs.

Then the white pony came to him and leaned closer so it could sniff the scientist's long, fair hair with its muzzle. The bird stopped, too, to rest on a lower branch of a nearby tree. Watari smiled and let the mare smell his hand for a moment before he spoke:

"I guess you're expecting a little foal, are you not, little mare?" The pony grunted softly as its long muzzle hair tickled Watari's hand. "And it seems that you're going to have chicks soon, too, birdie", Watari continued glancing at the bird who chirped still staring at man with its dark eyes. Watari smiled. "I'm really glad for you."

Then his expression darkened. "You know, I'm having a little one myself..." he said while scratching the white pony behind the ears. "And I don't know at all what I should do now. I've never been pregnant, you see." Watari let out a small laugh. "It must sound pretty odd. I guess this is not the first time for either of you."

A warm wind blew again, making Watari's golden hair flow along with it. The man sighed with a small smile on his face and leaned his head against the tree trunk. "I actually feel like sleeping... like I could doze off for a while", he said, scratched the pony behind its ears again and then relaxed against the tree, falling into peaceful sleep after a few minutes, his eyes closed and resting.

The pony and the bird watched Watari and listened to his calm breathing for a while longer. After a few moments the pony started to roam around some feet away from the tree as the bird flew back to its nest to tend to the eggs.

----------

The sky had already turned red when Watari had woken up. The white pony had disappeared having apparently trotted to its owner, but he had still heard the bird chirping somewhere in the higher branches of the tree.

The blond man had gotten onto his feet, stretched, and remembered that he would now have to back again. The restful feeling brought by sleep had disappeared and his earlier anguish had taken over Watari again despite the warm breeze surrounding him. He would have to face everyone again. Tsuzuki... Bon... and Tatsumi.

_Well... I guess nothing can be done about it anymore,_ Watari had thought, his light-brown eyes usually so luminous with warmth now crestfallen. Still, nothing had stopped him from stalling on the way back for so long that now when he finally arrived at the great stairs of JuOhCho the sun had almost set already and the building was really dark. Watari had calculated with his 'tardiness' that by the time he got there all the other shinigamis would have already gone home. Moreover, even if Tatsumi had stayed to do some overtime as usual - though after the shock earlier that day the possibility wasn't that likely - the man would hardly want to see him at the moment...

Despite his slow steps Watari arrived at the door of his lab and paused to stand there. He look at his unusually tidy office that was now bathing in dark shadows, and noticed the package he had left on the table that morning. Watari gave a deep sigh and turned on the lights. He might as well tidy the scarce disorder away... He pondered whether it was possible for him to quit his job - and was abruptly interrupted by a familiar voice coming from behind.

"Watari...?"

Watari froze to where he stood. Then, painfully slowly, he turned around to the direction of the sound and saw Tatsumi, sitting rather uncharacteristically on Watari's examination table. The brown-haired man look like he had already been waiting for a long while; his hair was exceptionally messed up, as if he had been tugging it while thinking about something really hard.

"Ta... Tatsumi?!" Watari felt his face going pale at the same as his heart began to beat unbearably fast from sheer panic. "Eeeh... eto, what are you doing here?" He tried to read the expression on the secretary's face while wondering whether he would survive the fall from a few storeys' height if he jumped out of the window. To his surprise he noticed that at least for now the man didn't look at all angry, more like worried.

"Waiting for you. Watari... everyone got really worried when you didn't come back. Tsuzuki-san was already afraid that you had gone and done something stupid and was bouncing on the walls all day. Kurosaki-kun had to hit him with a paperweight to calm him down. And..." Tatsumi stood up and took a few steps closer. "I too..."

Watari's heart skipped a beat on the last bit. _Tatsumi...? No,_ he mentally shook his head. _Tatsumi's just being nice to me, that's all. It would be foolish to even think that..._

With unfathomable strength he forced his usual smile on his face. "Naw, daijoubu yo. I... I just needed to clear my head with some fresh air. I'm alright now so you don't have to worry about me, Tatsumi."

Tatsumi stared at Watari, frozen. "Watari..." he began with a strange voice but was interrupted when the golden-haired scientist continued with his genki smile still glued to his face:

"Hontou ni, daijoubu! I was still a bit upset earlier but now I'm really okay. And... and I'm completely prepared to take care of this situation all by myself, so..." As he spoke Watari strode to his desk and turned to it so that Tatsumi wouldn't be able to see his face anymore. He was afraid that he would start crying again and tried to keep his voice steady. _Please just let me be alone just now, I can't take it much longer if..._

"But-"

"Just let it be!" Watari snapped. He was frantically trying to keep his hand from shaking as he organized the non-existant disorder on his desk. Tears were beginning to blur his vision. "I... I told you before that I don't hold you responsible for any of this. It was my potion, I should have known better than to try it out in that situation, especially with you. Now it's my responsibility and... and..." _I can do this, I WON'T fall apart..._ He stopped to take a deep breath before trying to go on.

"You're completely without fault in this. And I don't expect anything from you from now on, so-"

Suddenly Watari felt strong arms grabbing his shoulders and he was turned around to meet the gaze of Tatsumi's blue eyes for a moment. Before he could react to this in any a way he had already been taken into a tight embrace and pulled against the secretary's chest. The blond shinigami froze, tears falling down on his cheeks.

"Tat... Tatsumi?"

"... don't say that", Tatsumi said in a hoarse voice into Watari's ear. The man buried his face into the blond hair and was completely silent for a while. Then he continued.

"You... you come and seduce me, then tell me that you're having a baby, OUR child, and you expect me to just stay quiet and do nothing about it all?" Tatsumi let out a small and tearful laugh in Watari's hair. "Baka."

Something turned over inside of Watari. "What...?"

"I... I admit that I was rather shocked when all of this came out, and I guess I wasn't acting quite appropriately when I couldn't get a word out of my mouth. I would have thought that the whole thing was a joke if it weren't for your reaction. But..." Tatsumi's voice softened in Watari's ears. The blond shinigami could only listen dumbfounded in the other man's arms.

"Did you really think that I wouldn't care for you? That I wouldn't do anything for your sake and the sake of our child? That I wouldn't CARE?" Tatsumi loosened his grip only so that he could lean his forehead against Watari's and whispered in a tearful and amused voice the most wonderful words the scientist had ever heard.

"Watari, you idiot... I love you."

There was a moment of complete silence. Behind the window the leaves of the eternally blossoming cherry trees rustled in the wind.

With a voice filled with happiness Watari only whimpered: "... Tatsumi..." before Tatsumi pressed his lips against Watari's own, sweet and salty ones. The scientist wrapped his arms carefully around the secretary and gradually the two of them drifted to a world of their own.

And that which eventually followed can be easily guessed.

----------

The next day he had yet to face Tsuzuki and Hisoka again, but even though Watari was still a bit nervous about their reaction to the sudden addition to their family, he felt much braver knowing that Tatsumi would stay beside him for both better or for worse. The blond shinigami was at the height of his happiness as he walked onwards, glued to Tatsumi's side - from where he hadn't removed himself even for a second since last night - and stepped into the office of the pair in charge of the Kyushu district.

Hisoka, who had just begun to go through their daily paperwork, noticed them first. "Tatsumi-san... and Watari-san..." There was both surprise and uncharacteristic concern in the young shinigami's voice.

Watari answered him with a radiant genki smile. "Ohayo, Bon-"

The greeting was cut short, though, as he got torn away from the presence of his koibito by a darkish hurricane that howled: "WATARIIIIIIIII!!"

"Eh... Tsuzuki... onegai... you're strangling me..."

A chibified inu-Tsuzuki jumped down on to the floor terrified and gave the other man some space to cough in peace. "Gomen nasai!" the dark-haired shinigami began, his dog ears laid back from shame. "I didn't mean to, I was just so relieved that you're alright, Watari!"

"Baka", came from the direction of Hisoka. The older shinigami ignored the comment and continued:

"You really scared us all! I thought you'd already-"

"Daijoubu yo, Tsuzuki", Watari calmed down his co-worker, now smiling relieved. "I... I just needed to go and think things over in peace, but I'm now completely fine, already." He glanced affectionately at Tatsumi, making the man blush. "We already talked things through with Tatsumi and..."

Tsuzuki stared at the bashful Watari, then at Tatsumi who was glowing red, and formed the rest of equation inside his head. His amethyst eyes started to shine from joy, his tail already wagging happily as he exclaimed cheerfully:

"You've tied the knot?! FINALLY!" As Tatsumi's face gained even more colour and Watari giggled happily Tsuzuki kept bouncing around the office from joy. Finally he grabbed the hands of his two friends and with tearful eyes spluttered out: "Tatsumi... Watari... I am so happy for you! I've always thought that you were made for each other and now that you understand it for yourselves..." Despite Tatsumi's apparent embarrassment Tsuzuki just went on:" Tatsumi, I hope you realize how good a man you have been blessed to have as a wife! If I were you I'd make sure tha- UWAIH!!... I... Itai..."

His speech had been interrupted by an airborne paperweight. As Tsuzuki lay on the floor, holding his head, Hisoka picked up the Rubic's cube he had thrown and gave his own and slightly calmer congratulations to the young couple.

"Even though this is rather surprising I can only say that I'm happy for you both." Hisoka bowed as he spoke. "Especially knowing of Watari-san's feelings beforehand I'm glad that things have turned out this way. I wish happiness for the both of you."

As Tatsumi accepted the young shinigami's words in his usual composed manner Watari conjured up a knowing smile and messed up his kouhai's hair. When Hisoka only stared back at the scientist politely puzzled the man winked at him before speaking up.

"Bon, I truly appreciate your words. They make me very happy." A mischievous glint appeared in Watari's brown eyes. "But I would be even happier to see you happy as well, Kurosaki-kun."

"...?" was Hisoka's answer. He didn't have a clue about what Watari was talking about until the man called out to Tsuzuki who was finally getting up from the floor, whining about his head. "Oe, Tsuzuki!"

"Hai~i?"

"If you ever happen to need any advice on things concerning pregnancies, don't hesitate to use my expertise to your advantage."

"Watari-san!" Tatsumi exclaimed, shocked, realizing instantly what his blond koibito was driving at.

"Nani, A-NA-TA?" the man answered sweetly, with a completely innocent smile on his face.

By then Tsuzuki's brain had finally taken in all the possibilities that Watari's offer held to him. Slowly the gaze of the dark-haired shinigami turned towards Hisoka. Hope was shining from his entire being, and suddenly Hisoka was more than a bit awkward. "What?" he snapped at him when the man just continued to stare.

"Hisoka..."

"Well WHAT?"

"... LET'S HAVE A BABY, TOO!!"

Hisoka just stared at his partner flabbergasted. Then, deciding that he had heard him wrong, asked: "Excuse me WHAT?!"

"Seriously, you'd make a wonderful mother-"

"WHAT?!"

"Watari..." Tatsumi had covered his eyes and was desperately trying not to hear the conversation being held at about one hundred decibels and which most likely was the most banal argument in the history of Man, "did you REALLY have to?"

"No." Watari leaned against the man of his life again and wrapped his both arms around the secretary's. "But I think those two should finally realize what's going on between them. Don't you agree, Seii-chan?"

And while looking at the face radiating in front of his own, Tatsumi had trouble believing that the same face had only yesterday been miserable and soaked by tears. Watari seemed to have gotten back all his strength and a little more to add to it, and seemed like he was enjoying all of it with his excessive teasing.

_Much better this way,_ he thought when chief Konoe stepped into the office in the middle of Tsuzuki and Hisoka's yelling contest. It didn't last much longer after a sharp and bark-like:

"URUSAI!!"

*_*_*_*_*

Muahha! After this the plot thickens, so to speak. ^^ But to comment on a few things: THANK YOU for the reviews, it's been most welcome! Our plan to conquer the world seems to be running along smoothly. X3 Thank you.

Oh, and to the question how is Watari going to have that baby the answer is: The usual way. Are the any other options? ^^ But keep reading and you'll see it for yourselves!


	4. One Disasterous Tea Party

**Chapter 04 - One Disastrous Tea Party**

"Do we really have too..." Tsuzuki whined as they walked onwards on the grounds of Meifu.

"Tsuzuki-san, do you know how much refusing the Count's invitation for tea would disadvantage us?"

"But why do _I_ have to come along?" The nasal voice of the veteran shinigami cut the air and Tatsumi's hearing. "You do know what's going to happen again? The rest of you will get a delicious meal and somewhat civilized table company and I'll have to defend my virginity from Hakushaku's advances!!"

"Now that's over-exaggerating, Tsuzuki-san," stated Tatsumi in his usual non-expressive way while trying to stop Watari's tickle-attacks. "First of all you won't be deprived of food - considering your determination to clear the table in fifteen minutes - and most definitely not of wine knowing Hakushaku. Which reminds me: Kurosaki-kun, should Tsuzuki-san even REACH OUT for the wine bottle hammer some sense into him. Forcefully if possible."

"Wakarimashita, Tatsumi-san."

"Hisokaa, how can you be so cruel?!"

Hisoka didn't answer as he stomped towards the Castle of Candles. He was even more annoyed with Tsuzuki than usual because of the man's earlier suggestion. _A BABY. What the hell's going on in Tsuzuki's head?! Ano BA-KA..._

He glanced at Tatsumi and Watari walking ahead of him, the latter one now chattering about something arms waving in large circles along with the explanation. As happy as he was for his co-workers, Hisoka also feared that they might give Tsuzuki unwanted influences…

Finally, despite Tsuzuki's desperate escape attempts, they arrived at the castle where they were welcomed by Watson-san and the man's peculiar noises. He escorted the guests through a large front hall and a couple of dozen corridors and finally to a luxurious dining hall, where the tall windows faced the west and so bathed the room in the light of the afternoon sun. In the middle of the room stood - or more accurately, floated - the host himself ( or at least what could be seen of him ).

"Ah, welcome to my humble home once again, my dear gentlemen!" Hakushaku-sama greeted them in his suave manner. "Tatsumi-san, Watari-san, young Kurosaki-kun… and TSUZUKI-SAN…" While acknowledging the last of his guests the smile on the floating mask widened noticeably as the invisible eyes locked on the shinigami hiding behind Hisoka's back. Tatsumi thought he heard a small voice from the direction of his friend praying: "Kami-sama… TASUKETE…"

"Shall we seat ourselves?" the count suggested with his gloves towards the table. "Tsuzuki-san will naturally be sitting next to me…" he continued as a drop of drool ran down his invisible cheek. Tsuzuki squeeked.

The guests accompanied by their host began to gather around the table. Tatsumi quickly reserved seats for himself and Watari across Tsuzuki so he could prevent the more inappropriate advances of the lustful count. Hisoka seated himself on Tsuzuki's other side and got immediately latched onto by a security-seeking inu-Tsuzuki who kept whining: "Hisokaa, tasuketee..." Hakushaku only chuckled at Tsuzuki in a pleased manner as Watson brought the appetizers to the table.

The tea party enjoyed the servings while chatting on insignificances. The small-talk was accompanied by Tsuzuki's infrequent whimpering and the count's ecchi giggles. After a while, though, the discussion took a turn to Watari's current condition.

"Ahem, little birds have told me that a new addition to our family will arrive soon", said Hakushaku as he turned to face Watari Tatsumi. The couple glanced at each other and smiled.

"It's perfectly true", said Watari, blushing gracefully.

Hakushaku nodded approvingly at them as he leaned his invisible chin in his hands. "What a delightful item of news!" he said smiling. "You did always seem to be such good friends..." the count continued in a slightly teasing tone.

Tatsumi blushed visibly as Watari radiated next to him. _Has it always been so obvious...?_ pondered the dark-haired secretary embarrassed. Hakushaku laughed briefly at Tatsumi's reaction.

And then turned his attention to Tsuzuki next to him.

There was a five-second silence. Then...

"TSUZUKI-SAN, BEAR MY CHILD!" In the speed of light Hakushaku attacked the panick-stricken, whimpering Tsuzuki before the man could escape. The dog-eared shinigami screamed from terror and dashed from the count's clutches to an open window and jumped outside.

"Tsuzuki-saaaan, you won't get away this time!" the grinning count rushed after him with mad glint in his "eyes". "It's payback tiiiiiiime!"

The rest of the gang was left there to watch akwardly at Tsuzuki and the pursuing count play tag among the sakura trees. The purple-eyed shinigami kept pleading as he hurdled between the tree trunks and dodged the nearing grasp of Hakushaku's gloves. "Tatsumi... Watari... Hisoka... Please, ANYONE, _TASUKETEEEEEE!!!"_ The blood-chilling screm echoed ( for a long time ) in the premises of the Castle of Candles.

"Shouldn't we do something?" Watari asked somewhat concerned as he watched the desperare chase outside. "My pregnancy might give Hakushaku some unwanted determination..."

Tatsumi sighed and massaged his temples as Hakushaku's voice reached their ears from the yard: "Tsuzuki-san, don't forget that you are in my DEBT! Now be a good little shinigami and let me take GOOD care of you...!!"

Hisoka only snorted, sipped his tea cup and glanced outside where Tsuzuki had already climbed up a tree for safety and where Hakushaku was circling underneath the branches, chuckling omniously as his gloves kept grasping thin air

"Ano baka."

----------

After they had successfully calmed Hakushaku and persuaded Tsuzuki to climb down, the tea party finally returned to the table to continue their socializing. The shinigami that had been chibified by sheer terror had demanded on changing seats as the price of his descent, so now it was Hisoka who sat next to Hakushaku while Tsuzuki only huddled in his chair, still white from the ordeal. Against his own nature he didn't even glance at the pastries as all of his energy went into unrestrained shivering and silent whimpering.

"Poor Tsuzuki", said Watari compassionately and tried to offer cookies to the little one who didn't even seem to notice the gesture at all, though, and just stared at nothing with glazed eyes.

"Maybe we should be more careful with these tea sessions in the future", Watari whispered to Tatsumi who was sipping his tea next to him. The man nodded and replied in a low voice: "I agree. I don't think that this will remain Hakushaku-sama's last attempt. At least by the time that your condition begins to show more clearly there will be little that can stop our esteemed count."

"Except maybe the apocalypse."

They were suddenly distracted from their discussion as they heard Tsuzuki's familiar, whining voice. "Nee, Hisokaaaa, don't hog everything, leave some for me..." An apparently recovered Tsuzuki had clammed down on Hisoka's shoulder and now kept nudging him, softly whining. Tatsumi and Watari turned their attention to Hisoka who was consuming pastries with an exceptionally good appetite and totally ignoring any of Tsuzuki's complaints.

Tatsumi stared at Hisoka, astounded. "Kurosaki-kun, you must be rather famished today", he noted as the next pastry disappeared into Hisoka's mouth, making Tsuzuki whimper again. The boy just shrugged at him and took another pastry ( another squeel from Tsuzuki ).

Even Hakushaku who was sipping his tea in peace now glanced at Hisoka's action slightly puzzled. While the count left the youngster's eating habits without any further comments Watari carefully questioned: "But usually you aren't much of a sweet-tooth, though..?"

"One can endulge himself every once in a while, can't he?" replied Hisoka while yet another pastry slipped into his mouth. Chibi-Tsuzuki was now nearly howling: "Watariiii, Hisoka's gonna eat em' all... There'll be nothing left for me..."

Tatsumi surveyed Hisoka's actions for a while, looking amazed and ponderous at the same time and then leaned in to whisper into Watari's ear:

"If I didn't know better, I might believe that the reason for Kurosaki-kun's excessive appetite is that he wants to FEEL as if he was pregnant to Tsuzuki-san."

Tatsumi's words had the same impact as if suddenly there had been an elephant parade dancing ballet on the table. Hisoka turned red all over and fleed to the nearest bathroom with the speed of a lightning. An utterly bewildered Tsuzuki stared first at Tatsumi and Watari, then he glanced at where Hisoka had disappeared, and then miserably took the very last pastry.

Watari turned to Tatsumi again and said. "It's very likely." Tsuzuki sat in silence and munched on the pastry.

"Indeed", noted Hakushaku, and took another cup of tea.

Sorry for the delay! Jenna's been a lazy slug so the translation kinda took awhile. ;;; Anyhow, this whole chapter, well... Let's just say that we were under the influence of the Coca Cola Company, ne? :D


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